


A Work in Crimson

by ExplainingTheIndescribable



Series: Natural healing [2]
Category: Agent Carter (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Drama, Eventual Happy Ending, F/F, Fluff, Romance, Smut, probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-06
Updated: 2016-01-06
Packaged: 2018-05-12 06:15:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5655508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExplainingTheIndescribable/pseuds/ExplainingTheIndescribable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cartinelli. Sequel to One night. Angie and Peggy both have demons, and sometimes facing them can drive people together... unless it first rips them to shreds.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Work in Crimson

Angie held her breath and counted slowly in her mind.  
Five, four, three, two, one… and the lights were back. Right on time.  
She smiled that award-winning smile any actress worth her salt could pull out as needed, and bowed to the audience, letting out a small, unnoticeable sigh of relief as she did.  
An audience which currently consisted of the director of the show, the producer, Peggy, Jarvis, and a few runners who had been distracted by her outstanding performance waiting for coffee orders or some other such mundane task.  
The small round of applause lifted any final nerves about performing in the lead role, Carolyn.  
“Alright folks, it looks like we’re ready!”  
The director rubbed her hands together. She loved those moments when everything came together. Plus the cast was excellent, as was the story, and she had a feeling this production would have a long, profitable run.  
“And not a moment too soon”  
The producer grumbled, packing his scribbled-on bits of paper away into his briefcase. He may have been a general grumbler, but it was fair enough on this occasion, the press night was in two days and their official opening only two days after that. Not long at all, considering they had had to recast one of the main characters last minute (he was still learning his lines), the costume department was still recovering from a fire two weeks ago, and the props kept going missing. They did turn up, only yesterday they had found Angie’s umbrella from the park scene dangling open from a light fixture, but how they got into such strange places in the first place, no one could imagine.  
Things just seemed about to blow up, but then suddenly everyone was back on track again somehow.  
When they had first done a full technical rehearsal and Angie had been left in the dark without any warning, she had inadvertently yelped, and Peggy was at her side in an instant.  
There were benefits to having someone who knew your deepest fears; they knew to be there without either of you saying anything., when you had to face them.  
And Peggy was.  
Every time after that, Peggy had made sure to be close to Angie when the lights were all going to go out. Eventually, her presence on stage caused a bit of a dilemma, as she couldn’t just stand near Angie randomly in the real shows every night, so that had left Angie to hope Pegs wouldn't mind using the trap door. When Angie was kneeling, she could hold Peggy’s hand in the dark through the gap, and when she had to stand or at the end, Angie decided Peggy could hold her ankle instead.  
At the suggestion, the agent’s tone became slightly disbelieving.  
“You want me to hide under the stage every night, and hold your ankle through the trap door when the lights go out?”  
“Yep, you got it in one English” The actress simply smiled cheekily  
“You are aware I have a job and villains to catch, democracy to uphold... And how does me holding your ankle help anyone?”  
“It means I know you’re there. That's all I need”  
“But Angie, surely-“  
Angie held a finger to ruby painted lips, then glanced around the stage to make sure none of the crew or cast had decided to join their late-night ‘rehearsal’. To be fair, Angie had been planning to rehearse one particular scene, but then English got off work earlier than usual, decided to be supportive and romantic, and surprise Angie by turning up to the theatre with dinner. And well things don’t always go to plan.  
The theatre being quiet, Angie had dragged Peggy up on stage for their picnic of sorts, and they had enjoyed an all too rare meal together, before she had suggested the trap door idea. She leaned closer into Peggy and whispered into her ear  
“Did I forget to mention how much I appreciate it…”  
She licked the shell of Peggy’s ear, delighting in the Peggy’s shiver at the motion. Angie loved playing with her vices, yet more than that she loved how responsive Peggy's body was to her when she did  
“Angie, anyone could walk-“  
“…because I do…”  
She pressed a soft kiss to her jaw line  
“Angie…” Any final, half-hearted protest died in her throat  
She kissed her neck gently, knowing it was another sweet spot, and then again, leaving a slight lipstick smudge that for some reason turned Angie on like crazy. It meant Peggy was hers.  
“…A lot.”  
Angie leaned back slightly to read Peggy’s expression, but didn’t get the chance as the moment she did lips crashed against her own. Peggy had her pinned to the floor and trapped between her knees before she could blink  
“You’re such a bloody tease Angie Martinelli”  
She nipped at Angie’s neck, then left a trail of lipstick kisses along her collarbone  
“And you love it Peggy Carter”  
Peggy nearly growled  
“Agent”  
Angie grinned and raised an eyebrow  
“Agent Peggy Carter”  
The way she said it, the tone she used, that did things to Peggy. Pleasantly surprising things, below the belt. It really wasn't fair. Without any warning Peggy roughly pressed her thigh to the apex of Angie’s legs, and took advantage of Angie’s momentarily shocked and thoroughly aroused expression to start playing with her tongue and biting her lip between kisses that were becoming fiercer, as though they thought they could convey all their feelings for each other through one simple action.  
In the end, Angie may not have gotten any rehearsing done, but her trainer would have been happy at the work-out she got.  
Two nights later, and it was show time. The press release. Make or break, as the male lead Larry had said, attempting to strike up a flirtatious conversation with her. Again.  
“Yeah, break a leg”  
There was no humour or good will in it as she scowled back, he had been trying for three weeks to Angie's continued polite declines and Peggy's slight amusement (although, she had only found it amusing after a slight bout of jealousy which Angie had assured her was not necessary). He just wouldn’t take the hint.  
Maybe she should have asked Peggy to knock him out after all... Angie glanced at the ceiling and sighed. Ah well, too late now. Things had been coming together excellently in rehearsals, so much so that Angie got Peggy an actual ticket for a seat on Press night, rather than insisting she stay below in the trap door to hold her hand or ankle when it turned black as midnight in the auditorium.  
Angie felt confident. She could handle a measly five seconds in the dark between scenes.  
And she was damn determined to make sure Peggy saw her in all her acting glory. This was where shined brightest, and would make everyone who knew her, proud to say they did. She was already proud of herself for making it this far.  
Taking a look at the clock backstage, she saw they had another couple of minutes, and managed to sneak a peek out of the side curtain before the show to see Peggy chatting to Jarvis and Howard, smiling and completely at ease. It was always wonderful to catch her in those unguarded moments. Eyes shining, delicious lips perfectly curved into a smile that, as usual, enraptured Angie's full attention. A cough sounded behind her, and she pulled back, broken out of the salacious daydreamy state she had just been falling into, involving plump red lips and moans of her name.  
Without missing a beat she schooled her features to look more appropriate and less horny teenager and she grinned, it was going to be an excellent night. She just knew it.  
And then the person who had coughed, Larry, strolled past her and whispered ‘good luck’.  
She stared at his retreating back, horror overtaking her features.  
Her confidence shrank by the second.  
He did not just… She was gonna thwack him next time she saw him.  
He had jinxed them all.  
On the first night.  
Press night. Angie erased all traces the scowl from her features, and attempted to reassure herself things weren't about to go down in flames  
It was all going to be fine… they had practised diligently for what felt like an age, and it was all going to be fine. Who cares about a silly little theatre rumour anyway… She was Angela Martinelli, she did not take crap from anyone, and she would not let some small-minded imbecile get in her head. Not on their first night. Her mama had raised her better than that, and she was going to do herself proud. God knew she had paid her dues; she had fully earned this.  
Pep talk done, she readied herself for the opening number, adrenaline pumping through her veins as the red velvet curtain lifted, revealing to her the packed audience, with every single set of eyes focused straight on her.  
The first act had gone off without a hitch. In the start of the second, one actor had forgotten his lines, but his pal made it into a joke and the audience were none the wiser!  
Now, the lights were down again in prep for the next scene.  
She told herself to breathe deeply.  
It was just another scene change behind her.  
One more set of five dark seconds. She had done this what felt like hundreds of times in rehearsals.  
Five, four…  
But she had had Peggy then... She dismissed the thought. She got this. The lights would come on any moment now, just a few more seconds.  
…three, two, one.  
Angie opened her eyes, smile already in place, ready to start her lines for the next scene….  
She couldn’t see anything  
It was still as pitch black and as cloying as an underground coal mine.  
There was no one  
There was nothing  
Only black. The air seemed to be getting thinner, not to mention it seemed to be getting harder to breathe at all. Her lungs felt lined with cement. Angie started to feel the darkness creeping closer to her, pressing into her, swallowing the air in thick gulps she tried to convince herself she wasn’t drowning in the darkness.  
What did Peggy say again? Come on Angie, think!  
Nothing came to her  
After a moment of making herself concentrate, calm words in a British accent made themselves present at the forefront of her mind  
'Focus on your breathing Angie, only on your breathing. In, two-three-four, and then out, slowly. Nothing else matters my darling, just breathe.'  
The air loosened, and the darkness itself seemed to retreat slightly from her as she pulled in one slow, forced breath after another.  
She could almost feel English’s hand on her, letting her know she was alright, that she had the indestructible Peggy as her steadfast anchor, who wasn’t going anywhere. Her shield from the dark and the horrors it carried.  
Angie held tightly to the ghost touch and focused on it, as though she could will it into being and force out any thoughts of gun shots… and blood… and screaming…  
Oh no, she’d thought about the screaming…  
Her brother’s hoarse voice rang clear as a bell in her mind, screams for mercy from past deeds that could not be undone, from the vocal chords of just one life those deeds had torn asunder.  
She willed the noise to stop with all her might, but no relief came Images of the blood on her hands crystallised in her mind  
Maybe if she had listened to him more… given him the chance to explain, if she had just let him talk about the war, made him talk about it, maybe his demons wouldn’t have driven him to kill himself, maybe this wouldn’t ever have happened, maybe she wouldn’t have his blood on her hands…  
The blood seemed to spread, from the knuckles she had softly knocked him with, across her palms, along her fingers, down her forearms and up to her shoulders…  
Opening her eyes did nothing to ease the vision in her mind. She could feel the stickiness on her skin. Until she was a crimson angel of death once more No, no, no get out, please, get it all out… she pleaded with her own mind, focus on… something else, anything else.... please  
In a similar fashion to when someone tells you not to think of an elephant, and suddenly elephants are, fascinatingly, all you can think of, no other thoughts availed themselves to distract Angie.  
The last scene before the lights went down had ended dramatically, Carolyn’s hunky soldier fiancée Lance had been shipped off to Spain. His ship had been hit by the enemy on the return journey, and he was really assumed to be dead, though the letter Angie had just read out to the audience stated that he was only MIA. In this fictional reality, he was alive, as the audience knew, they had seen him be saved by an allied force. Although they didn’t know he would bound across the stage and sweep her into his arms before the end of the show, it was expected. Theatrical shows about the war only really survived if they portrayed a happy ending, it was all still a tad too fresh for people to be able to bare any less.  
For the time being however, the audience knew was that this poor girl thought the ‘love of her life’ and childhood sweetheart, was most probably dead, if not a prisoner in a POW camp.  
So, when the lights finally came back on, the audience didn’t know the scene was meant to start with Carolyn meeting with some other women who were also being trained to become fine Army nurses. They didn’t know that she was determined to carry on doing her duty, no matter what. They didn’t know Carolyn was simply too busy with the war effort and doing everything within her power to help, to allow herself the indulgence of mourning.  
They didn’t know Carolyn… Angie… the lead actress, was not meant to be drawn up in a tight ball on the stage, head bowed down, fists curled to cover tightly shut eyes, visibly shaking with sobs wracking through her.  
The only response from the audience was a few hands on hearts, a few unshed tears forming in sensitive eyes, and a general sympathetic response for her character, for how beautifully they all thought she portrayed Carolyn’s suffering.  
In such a sexist time when a large portion of the audience would expect a girl's life to revolve around a boy's, it was no surprise. Another woman broken by the strains of a world war.  
Four minutes earlier  
Across in the third row, Peggy had been to enough rehearsals to know this wasn’t what was meant to happen. She knew that the blackout had already lasted longer than it was supposed to, and the lights realistically weren’t coming back up on their own. As soon as she realised that, she knew she had to make a decision: comfort Angie on stage, or fix the actual problem.  
Her mind was made up by two simple thoughts; Angie had faced the dark before and been fine, even confident enough to insist Peggy should be sitting in the audience tonight, combined with a hunch that the boys in the lighting booth probably didn’t care enough to notice that there was a problem and fix it themselves. If they even had the intellectual or observational skills.  
Her second thought had been right. Halfway through taking a large bite into a pastrami bagel, the guy on switchboard duty looked up and attempted to garble out a few words around the food in his mouth  
“ughm?”  
Charming. Peggy didn’t waste time either deciphering that or replying to it, instead choosing to reach over him and flip up the switch that had been on a faulty timer.  
Standing from the lighting booth, seeing the floodlights spring on, spotlighting Angie’s crumpled, shaking form on the stage, threw her off completely.  
Her first thought had been wrong.  
Within the space of less than ten seconds, a rush of adrenaline had her moving faster than she had even when metal slugs were chasing her, and she was up on stage in an instant, crouching next to Angie, holding a violently shaking hand in her own, offering whatever physical comfort she could.  
The animalistic fear in her expression and the flinch at the touch, scared the big badass spy Peggy Carter.  
She had made the wrong call, even if it was for the right reasons. When Angie realised the lights were back, and Peggy was right there, and everything wasn’t totally doused in blood after all, including herself, her breathing rate started to come back to normal.  
The audience clapped as Peggy escorted Angie off stage, assuming it was all a part of a theatrics, as the agent started shoving the other actors on as soon as her and Angie were far enough behind the side curtain. It was now up to them to keep up the charade that this was all meant to happen; this was Angie’s big break and Peggy would be damned if hell or high water stood between Angie and Broadway now, much less a few actors who couldn't be flexible to adapting a scene. No, those others actors were damn well going to stand on stage, play it off, and prove their worth. And then try to get back to the script as best as they could. A single look from Peggy as she herded them onstage ensured that they did, and valiantly so.  
Once she'd had a drink of water, Angie insisted on finishing the rest of the few scenes left, and did so with the full force of her acting skills out on display. She kept a smile on her face throughout the bows, left the stage, and then collapsed into the chair in her dressing room as soon as she was able to.  
After a moment she was up again, promptly heading to the basin in her washroom to wash her hands. She had to get the blood off.  
Tears rolled down her face, but she didn’t feel sad. She didn’t feel anything.  
After the third time, Peggy came up behind her and turned the tap off before drying Angie’s hands herself, trying to catch her vacant gaze all the while.  
But Angie didn’t want to see Peggy.  
She didn't want to see that traitor ever again. She hadn’t been there. Angie had come to depend on Peggy, but when Angie fell, expecting warm arms to catch her in an embrace, she was treated to the rocky uneven ground that scraped the skin off her back instead. All the evening had done, was remind Angie that no matter what she thought, who she thought she was or how she had grown, she was still small, and alone, and afraid of finding the demons that came out to play in the dark.  
When Peggy set the towel down and gently took her close in an embrace, Angie simply looked at her hands behind the other woman's back.  
She could still see crimson streaks.


End file.
